Burden And Blame
by Shattered Spectre
Summary: Ruby has been hurt and sent into a coma, and Yang thinks Weiss is at fault. A mission went wrong, and now everything is happening to fast for Weiss to think. Things are not what they are made out to be.
1. Prologue

**Burden and Blame**

**(All RWBY aspects belong to Rooster Teeth Productions. Please give them support)**

_**Characters will be OOC**_

***All A/N's have been removed as the story has been finished***

* * *

"You did this!" Yang screamed. "You were supposed to keep her safe during the mission while we held them back!"

She got up, flared her aura, and promptly put a fist into the wall, making a large hole with scorched edges.

"She would have died trying to protect you, and you would never have done the same! You've never cared about anyone on this team except yourself." Her voice lowered into a whisper, filling with venom as she spat at the heiress. "You're nothing but a selfish, spoiled, uptight _bitch_." Yang had punctuated the last word with every little bit of hate she could muster.

Weiss just sat on her bunk, shaking with tension and a cold, dead look on her face. It was almost like she wasn't there. Yang had paused to stare the white-haired girl with pure loathing in her eyes.

"And that's all you'll ever be!" Yang suddenly raising her voice back to the volume which the whole school could probably hear her from Team RWBY's dorm. "Now, my little sister could possibly die because you couldn't put your inflated ego aside!

Blake had heard enough. She quietly slipped outside, making a beeline for the nearest place she could go without anyone finding her.

"_Maybe I could go to my corner of the library, or a nice tree on the edge of the Emerald Forest." _Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Yang's rage filled voice come from down the hallway.

"You damn well better be happy with yourself princess!" Her voice accompanied with another thud. Blake assumed there were now two holes in the wall, if not a crater in Weiss' chest.

"_Maybe I shouldn't have left her there by herself..." _A concerned look crossed Blake's face at the thought. This was going to be a long night.

About an hour after Blake had silently left, Yang had finally stopped sending an onslaught of verbal attacks, becoming emotional and falling onto her bunk and crying her eyes out for the fourth time that day. Weiss had not moved at all, afraid the slightest twitch would send the sobbing girl into another fit of rage.

Weiss had shown no sign of emotion during the entire tirade, and was positive that it had only made Yang even surer that she didn't care for Ruby at all. But Weiss knew this was far from the truth. There were many things Weiss had never told her teammates, and she wouldn't start now. Weiss had decided that it was best to take her chances and leave, if only to get some fresh air before the tension suffocated her.

Slowly, Weiss pulled herself to her feet. Every inch of her body ached from staying still for so long, but she didn't care. She stood up fully, and waited for Yang to go back to yelling, but nothing happened.

"_She must have fallen asleep._" Weiss thought to herself.

She sighed as she pulled the blankets from her bunk and draped them across the sleeping girl, and quietly opened the door and walked out into the hall.

"_I guess I could go get a late meal. It's been a long day."_ her thoughts continued on.

The heiress trudged down the hallway, stopping before she covered just ten feet. _"I need to go see Ruby. I have to make sure she's alright._"

Changing her course of direction, she made her way towards the infirmary ward. Upon reaching the door a few minutes later, she hesitated, not knowing what to expect, as she hadn't seen Ruby being carried out of the forest. Her hand reached for the doorknob, and slowly began to turn it, and paused.

"_What if she didn't make it? What if she will never become a huntress? What if she hates me for not protecting her like I said I would?"_

All of these fears became overwhelming as her hand began to tremble. Gathering her willpower, she forced herself to slowly open the door to Ruby's temporary room.

In an instant, her heart was shattered into many, many pieces. Everything Weiss had learned to keep herself from showing any weakness, failed her. Ruby was covered head to toe in gauze, and several whirring machines with long tubes ran into her body. Blood had seeped through much of the full body wrapping, and had started running down onto the bed, dying it a dark red. Blood bags hung from racks on both sides of her bed, keeping her from bleeding to death. One tube ran into her nose, forcing air into her lungs.

_Ruby couldn't even breathe without a machine to help her_.

Silent "No's" began radiating off of Weiss' lips as she took in every gruesome detail of her partner's current state. Rushing to her side, she saw that Ruby's face was still frozen in a terrified expression of pain. Weiss was mortified, glued to the spot where she stood. Her mind instinctively kept telling her to get over it, to accept what had happened. She could have done it had it been anyone _but_ Ruby.

Ruby had held a special spot in Weiss' life for some time now. Her leader had such a carefree way of going about her role in the team, leaving it up to Weiss to pick up the slack. The heiress tried to train Ruby in her off time from classes, and she had made so much progress. Ruby had finally started acting like a leader, not afraid to give orders or set up a plan of execution upon being assigned a mission. But the childish girl had never once given up on who she was at heart. Whenever she could, she'd have as much fun as possible before having to get back to her duties. Over the months, Ruby had grown on Weiss, in a way she couldn't describe. But now, seeing her fearless leader in such a torn up state, shook her ice cold heart to the core. Weiss' eyes were closed as she bowed her head and clenched her fists. Her mind thought back to all of the things Yang had said about her.

"_You're nothing but a selfish, spoiled, uptight bitch, and that's all you'll ever be!"_

Weiss couldn't deny it either, but it wasn't her fault she was born into the most powerful company the world had ever seen.

She had been brought up as the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, and as the daughter of a professional businessman. Her father has wanted a son, but being stuck with a daughter, he made do. He taught her to be cold, and take down whoever would dare stand in her way, and a part of that being to never become attached to anything, or it would lead to her immediate downfall. Whenever it seemed as though she would show any sign of caring towards anyone, her father would have him or her jailed, never to be seen again. Weiss hated her father, but could do nothing about her place in the world. Ever since, she had pushed everyone away from her, to keep them safe. It was better for them to hate her, than to be imprisoned at the hands of her father.

Snapping out of the horrifying memories, she opened her eyes to look at her hands, still clenched, and nails beginning to draw blood. The pains her hands were not near the anguish she felt in her chest. Looking upon her nearly-dead leader, she made a vow.

"Ruby… I know that all you wanted from the first day was to be friends, but I couldn't risk it. You would have been taken like the rest. I promise that when you wake up, I will be by your side and protect you no matter what happens to me. I want you to know that you are my first true friend, and that you are my best friend." Weiss spoke aloud, eyes closed tightly, resisting the urge to break down and cry.

"I promise that I will do whatever it takes to make this up to you, if it costs my life." Tears began streaming from the girl's eyes as she opened them, and placed her hand in Ruby's, and collapsed onto her knees by the bed.

"You're the only one I have ever felt this way about, you dolt! You can't just die like this and leave me with nobody left in my life!" Weiss laid her head on the edge of the bed, and began to cry, soaking the sheets with tears.

"Don't worry Weiss, everything will be alright." A calm voice spoke from the doorway. Weiss released Ruby's hand, stood up and spun around all in one fluid motion as she saw Blake smiling warmly looking at her tear streaked face.

"I won't say a word." Blake said. "But as soon as Ruby gets better, you have to tell her how you feel".


	2. Chapter 1

**Burden and Blame: Chapter 1**

* * *

Long after Blake had her run in with Weiss breaking down on Ruby's bedside; life had slowly started piecing itself back together. Ruby's aura had eventually healed up her more superficial injuries, but the coma remained a dilemma.

Weiss was sure Blake had said something to Yang about how the heiress truly felt. Ever since, the tension hadn't been as thick in the air. This had made Weiss scared because if her feelings were made public, then there was a chance her father would find out. Best case scenario, Weiss would be removed from Beacon immediately. Worse case, Ruby would meet the same fate as anyone else who had tried to be her friend.

Much to the girl's relief, nothing was ever mentioned by Yang, but Blake did hint at it every time Weiss went out at night to visit Ruby for a quick reassurance. This had, to some extent, impacted Weiss. She had become less arrogant, more aware of how others felt, and more careful in combat exercises that could prove potentially fatal. Even Yang knew something was up, so she caught up with the changed girl after class.

"Weiss, will you wait up please?" Yang had asked after one of Professor Port's unnecessarily long fictional tales where he had cut off the head of a Nevermore and hauled it over several miles back to his home town.

"What do you need?" Weiss asked calmly.

"Well, I wanted to ask why you haven't been yourself recently…" Yang trailed off, expecting some elaborate excuse for Weiss to hide behind.

Blushing, Weiss assumed Blake had told Yang, and it was all up. "Well, I really don't want anyone else to be hurt by my actions, or lack thereof."

"I was expecting more from you, Snow Angel." Yang said returning to her playful attitude.

"Well Blake's already told you how I feel about Ruby, so I shouldn't lie to you, should I?" Weiss said, looking at her feet. "What kind of person would I be then?"

"Weiss, Blake didn't tell me anything, but you sure have my attention now." Yang said in a voice full of surprise. "You've got some explaining to do."

Weiss was shocked and had stopped walking, now frozen in place. "S-she didn't tell you then?" She tumbled over her words as fear ripped through her veins.

"She'll be telling me now. And if I heard correctly, the cold-hearted ice princess has a crush on my little sis…"

They arrived at the door to their dorm and went inside. They both quietly walked over to Blake's bunk, where she was reading as usual. Blake had felt two pairs of eyes staring at her. One pair in particular was putting of such a strong feeling of fear that Blake was tempted ignore the looks. She put her book down and turned to look up at her two teammates.

"Is there something you two need?"

"So kitten, what precious info about the princess and my sister have you been keeping from me?" Yang asked ready to interrogate Blake by any means necessary.

Blake looked over at Weiss, who gave her the nod to go ahead and tell.

"Well, I went to go check on Ruby one night after everyone was asleep, but I noticed Weiss wasn't in bed, so I went to investigate. I figured she was studying in the library, but when I found she wasn't there, I decided to just go back to my original plan, and head to bed."

Yang looked over at Weiss who was staring blankly at a wall to her right.

"I got to the door, and I heard crying, and a very familiar voice. I peeked inside and I saw Weiss crying on Ruby's bedside, promising to protect her."

By this time, Weiss was shaking, attempting to control her emotions, even in the presence of her team.

"I went on inside, but I let her finish. When she had taken Ruby's hand and started crying, I knew there was something up, so I went to talk to her." Blake took a moment to pause. "She was startled, and had been distraught."

Weiss decided to take over and finish the story on her own terms.

"I told Blake how I felt about Ruby, and she had promised not to say anything, but I didn't think she would keep her word, so I was surprised when you asked why I was different, and I assumed you knew and blurted out that I have feelings towards Ruby."

Yang sighed as she gathered her thoughts and came to a decision.

"I owe you an apology for saying you didn't care. It was wrong of me. Honestly, Ruby has been fighting for your approval since the first day at this school. She told me a few months before she got knocked unconscious that she always got this warm fuzzy feeling around you, and I think that she and you have similar feelings."

"I'd have to second that. Ruby always has been very, different around you." Blake said with no real concern.

"It's not like it matters. I have to keep her away, for her sake." Weiss managed to say, nearly choking up.

"Uh… What? Why?" Yang asked, extremely confused.

"My father would have me out of this school the next day if he found out I was getting attached to someone. He has an aversion to anyone getting too close to me."

"Weiss, Ruby would follow you to the end of the Earth if she knew you felt this way about her. There would be no chance of anything keeping her from being with you. Your father wouldn't faze her a bit."

"You just don't get it! At best, I'm gone for good! My dad will hire a tutor or something and keep me locked inside until I 'learn' not to trust or care about anyone! But that's _if_ he doesn't decide to pay off someone to get rid of Ruby!"

With that, Weiss turned on the spot, ran towards the door and exited not saying another word.

"_They don't know him like I do. But I made a promise to protect Ruby, and that means if father tries to harm her in any way, he shall know the true feeling of being dead on the inside." _Weiss thought as she ran, crying through the halls, not caring who saw. "_You need to wake up soon Ruby; I need you to wake up for me_."

She ran as far away from her teammates as she could get before she had to stop to take breath. She collapsed to her knees as she continued to cry on the edge of the Emerald forest. All of her anguish and suffering yelled for her to keep running and never look back, but her body wouldn't carry her any further, and she didn't have time to grab any dust on her way out.

"Well that was, unexpected of you Weiss." A flat toned female voice called from her right.

Looking up, Weiss saw Blake standing against a tree, looking rather amused, catching the runaway girl so quickly. "You need to stop being so self-assured and start depending on your team a little bit. We're all here for you, and for some reason, you keep thinking any one of us will shove a knife in your back when you're not looking."

"Did you not hear a word I said?! If I do, I'm gone!" Weiss was still recovering from her flight from their dorms.

"Nothing's going to happen to you. We're not about to let someone take away our teammate, no matter the cost. Now get up and help us figure this out." Blake said, trying to be as caring as possible.

Calmly getting up, Weiss brushed off her knees and wiped away her tears, trying to regain some of her normal composure.

"You're all making a big mistake, but I guess I can't convince you of that."

"Not a chance in hell." Blake said with confidence.

Both girls turned, ready for the walk back to the dorms on the other side of the campus when a roar was heard through the woods behind them. Trees smashed to the ground as an Ursa had got wind of their position.

"I don't have any dust for Myrtenaster!" Weiss complained as she drew her rapier.

"Just take some of mine then." Blake said, tossing a red vial to Weiss, who caught it and opened the revolving chambers, placing it in one of the slots and closing it with a flick of her wrist as the Ursa came crashing through the final layer of foliage.

Blake took off to a nearby branch as Weiss dashed forwards, Myrtenaster raised in en garde. Taking a swipe at one of its legs, a direct cut caused blood to pour out as Blake slashed at its back from above with Gambol Shroud.

The Ursa howled in pain as it turned around, making a gigantic arch with its large paws, catching Blake in the shoulder, sending her into a nearby tree, the Ursa limping over to where she fell.

Weiss seizing an opportunity, created an air walk glyph to boost herself directly over the creature, rapier poised to strike as she fell. Revolving chamber switching to the red dust, the blade of her sword became enveloped in a searing glow as Weiss took a stab directly into the back of the Grimm's neck, causing it to collapse forwards, blood boiling within the creature and sending Weiss flying overhead. Pulling her weapon out as she came over, the girl landed a roll and got up, immediately walking to where Blake lay beneath a tree.

Coming upon the site, Weiss instantly observed the black haired girl was conscious and was alright despite the dislocated shoulder and two cuts along her arm. Taking a firm grip beneath Blake's arm, she jerked upwards, causing a bone chilling pop to resonate through the air.

"Thanks for that Snow Angel." Blake said coolly as she stood up, stretching her arm and walking towards the Ursa to retrieve Gambol Shroud.

"Don't ever call me that again." Weiss said angrily as she began walking back towards the school.

"Whatever. Just get back and tell Yang what happened. I'm going to get my cuts healed up."

Both girls went their separate ways as the Grimm behind them dissipated into thin air, leaving nothing behind.


	3. Chapter 2

**Burden and Blame Chapter 2**

* * *

Weiss was sick and tired of waiting for her leader to wake from her dreaded coma. No progress had been made in terms of improving Ruby's skills as a fighter, or her knowledge in the classroom. Eagerly awaiting her teammates' return from their final classes, Weiss had finally come up with an idea that was sure to make them all ecstatic.

As they came in, Weiss sat up on her bunk with a smile. Scared, having never seen the heiress smile at them so honestly before, they approached hesitantly.

"Weiss? Is everything alright?" Blake asked, just as off-put as Yang.

"Actually yes, everything's alright. In fact, I have some really great news."

"And that is…?" Blake asked, trying to resist the urge to turn and flee.

"I may… have a way to wake Ruby." Weiss said happily with a small amount of hesitation.

Both Blake and Yang's jaws dropped. The two girls had known it was something big, as it had got Weiss to smile, but not something like that. It was almost too much for Yang to handle as she started blinking, making sure she had heard correctly.

"How?!" They both said in unison in more than surprised tones.

"Well, I'm a Schnee Heiress…" She said, pausing to let it sink in. When they still didn't connect the dots, she explained a little more.

"I have access to the best that money can buy. I can contract a team to attempt a cure. Within a few weeks, hopefully they could have it tested, and then have a batch sent here. _If _all goes well, Ruby could possibly wake up in the near future."

The two onlookers stood speechless as Weiss had just come up with a plan to solve a problem that had been plaguing them for weeks. It seemed like nothing could make today better besides the awakening of Ruby at the very moment.

"You know you two could thank me or something you know."

Yang said nothing as she moved in to give Weiss a massive bear hug, almost squeezing the life out of her.

"P-please! Please let go!" Weiss managed to get out before her air supply ran short.

"Well…" Blake sighed "Looks like the Ice Princessis desperate to get her little flower back as soon as possible."

Weiss blushed, trying her best to remain coordinated and cohesive.

"Well that's not all of it! We need our leader back. On top of that, the more we wait, the further she gets behind." Weiss' confidence in her own excuse was lacking. "You know I'm right. It's for her own good as well as mine- I mean ours!"

"Uh-huh… And next you're going to invest the rest of your money into a cure for cancer." Blake said, sarcasm clearly evident.

"Just, lay off for one moment would you?" Weiss asked, even more blood rushing to the pale girl's face. "We all know that we need Rose back, and this is the quickest way to do it."

"I have to agree, I want to talk to my little sister." Yang said, hope in her voice.

"You already talk to her..." Blake said, referencing the numerous amounts of times Yang had sat next to Ruby's bed and carried on a conversation singlehandedly to make herself feel better.

"I want her to be able to actually talk back!" Yang said with irritation showing in her voice.

"_Not like she would actually get a moment to talk if she were awake…" _Weiss thought as she listened to the conversation before her.

"Well if what Weiss said is possible, then that can happen." Blake said.

"Should I go through with it then?" Weiss asked, planning on doing it anyway.

"Of course." Yang said with excitement.

"Go for it." Blake said flatly.

"Great!" Weiss said happily. "I'll make the calls tomorrow morning and see what I can do."

The others prepared for and went to bed. All but Weiss eventually drifted off into a deep slumber. While everyone else dreamt, Weiss was wide awake as she desperately sought anything that would aid in her attempt at waking Ruby.

The next day, Weiss was up before everyone else. She woke early before sunrise, took her shower, and ate breakfast before Blake had even managed to open her eyes.

"C'mon and get up. Today's Saturday, so we don't have classes and that gives us time we can be using to help Ruby." Weiss said to Blake the moment she sat up.

"Damn it Weiss!" Blake said drowsily. "Give me two seconds to wake up, will you? Wait… did you even sleep at all last night? You look horrible."

Weiss replied with an angry glare at Blake who was immediately wary of the heiress.

"Just pretend like you're still asleep like I've been doing and maybe she'll give up and go away." Yang said, her voice muffled by the pillow her face was crammed into. "Oh, she's still there, isn't she…?"

"Yes I am, now both of you get the hell up, now!" Weiss yelled, annoyed how both of her teammates hadn't budged.

Unmotivated groans came from both girls as they slowly got up. Weiss, satisfied with her work, went on to grab her scroll and began dialing a number for a pharmaceutical company.

"Hello? Yes, this is Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company, and I would like to talk to your director." The conversation went on, and eventually she was connected to the head of the company.

"_Ms. Schnee. What an unexpected honor."  
_

"I need to borrow your finest chemists, engineers, scientists, researchers, and your best laboratory."

"_Ma'am, may I ask what this is about?"  
_

"Yes, I am in need of medicine that can solve the issue of a coma. If I remember correctly, my family invests in your company, indeed?"

"_Yes, that's correct. What would we have to gain, if said medicine were to succeed?" _

"Well, it's not just about what I would pay, but what the market would."

"_Hmm. I think that's a fair statement, but you'll have to fund this little project yourself."_

"But of course. I'll also be contacting several other companies and informing them they will be working closely with you to get this done. The faster it's completed and the more efficient it is, the more I pay, and the more you can sell it on the open market for, with the reputation of having satisfied the Schnee family backing it."

"_Alright. We'll have our best staff assembled and ready to proceed by this afternoon."_

"Good." Weiss ended the call and proceeded to repeat the talks with several of the world's most reputable medical companies, meeting no opposition along the way. Blake and Yang simply watched in confusion as Weiss had just formed the world's best team of medicinal experts using her family's name alone, Lien hardly being mentioned.

Weiss turned around after the final call and summarized the events of the past few minutes.

"Well, everyone seems willing to work together towards mutual gain, and to make a little extra cash, so this might work." She sighed. "Only problem is that it may not be done for a month or two, if ever."

"Something's better than nothing." Yang said, full of hope.

"_Yeah Yang, you're right about that. I just hope this goes well. I caused this, so getting Ruby out of her coma is the least I can do to make up for it." _Weiss thought to herself.

"So what happens if this all works out?" Blake asked.

"Well, then we get our teammate back and train her in what she's missed, obviously." Yang said.

Weiss wanted to bang her head against a brick wall. "That's not exactly going to be easy. She's missed weeks' worth of work, and I'm not exactly sure she's learned anything being in a coma and all."

"You know…" Yang started. "I wonder what she must be thinking about."

"From what I've read about comas and dreams, the people who are dreaming or in a coma have thoughts based on what they hear." Blake said, adding her knowledge into the mix.

Weiss got a sudden chill down her spine. "_Oh no. No, no, no. If that's true, she will have heard everything I said and then she'll know how I feel about her. But wait, if she's in a coma, and Yang was right about her feeling the same way, she'll just assume it was a part of her dreams and not say anything about it!"_

"You alright there, Princess?" Yang asked, snapping her fingers in front of Weiss' face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just trying to remember if I forgot anyone who would be useful in creating that medicine."

Weiss caught Blake's eyes. Blake gave a small smirk, knowing exactly what Weiss was thinking about.

"Yang, you want to go get something to eat since Snow Angel here took away our breakfast?" Blake asked.

"Sounds good enough to me." Yang replied walking towards the door.

"Fine, let's leave Weiss to her thoughts of 'medicine'." Blake had emphasized the last word to further prove she knew what was really on Weiss' mind.

With that, both girls walked out the door, leaving Weiss sitting on her bed.

"_Well, that's taken care of. What else is there I can do with the rest of my time?" _Weiss had not anticipated being left alone. "_Maybe I'll work on something for Ruby… Yeah, a surprise. She likes surprises, right? What if she doesn't? How could she not? Fine, I just won't do it. Well, that wouldn't be nice…" _

Weiss sat and argued internally, finally coming to the conclusion that she would indeed work on a special present for the comatose girl. It would be one of the nicest things she'd done for anyone, besides creating a cure; still for the same girl.

"_Ruby will be the end of me one of these days. I just hope it's worth it when that day comes." _Weiss thought as she sunk into her bed, with Ruby's hanging Bunk of Doom above her.

"_How ironic that I think Ruby will kill me somehow, and then I see that."_ She thought, losing consciousness and falling into the deep sleep her body had been begging for since she stayed up all night gathering the names and numbers of the corporations she had contacted.


	4. Chapter 3

**Burden and Blame Chapter 3**

* * *

"Thank you, I'll let everyone know."

Weiss had gotten a call from the team she had assembled a month ago. They had news of how the medication was coming along. It had only taken a few days to research the essential components in order to solve the difficult issue of a coma. The assembly had composed a drug potent enough to possibly wake their sleeping leader. New problems arose with its testing, however.

"How's it progressing?" Blake inquired.

"Well, it's gone through the first phase of testing on mice put into induced sleep." Weiss said, hoping they didn't ask for more.

"So what's the verdict then?" Yang probed.

"Ten mice, one woke up."

"It's getting there!" Yang exclaimed, ready to hug Weiss.

"You're going to want to know something else before you get all excited." Weiss whispered, trying to not invoke a fiery wrath.

Yang instantly calmed down, and Blake's faint smile vanished. Everyone knew deep down that nothing could go that perfectly so soon. The two of them just looked at Weiss blankly, waiting for her to go on.

"_I really didn't want to tell them this yet… It's going to crush them._" Weiss thought quickly. "The mouse woke up, stayed awake for a few seconds before developing... Problems. Its heart, lungs, and several main arteries ruptured. It caused a very bloody scene, the mouse died slowly, and in agony."

"What about the other mice?" Blake asked looking as though she may vomit.

"They either didn't get enough to affect them at all, or got too much and died once the medicine got to their bloodstream." Weiss wanted to run out of the room, feeling terrible for the bad news. Nobody made eye contact as silence filled the room, tension thickening in the air.

A knock was heard at the door, relieving them of said tension.

"I'll get it." Yang said, quietly. "Coming!" she called as she approached the door.

Opening it, they saw a rather short rabbit faunus standing in the hall, clearly sad.

"A-are you Team RWBY?" She asked.

"Yes." Came a collective group answer as all three girls gathered around the doorway.

"Professor Ozpin would like to see you in his office immediately. He said it's about a girl named Ruby; it's urgent.

The girl had no warning as the team tore through the doorway, and shoved the poor girl to the opposite side of the hallway.

"Sorry!" Blake had yelled, but they were already halfway down the hall.

Bursting into Professor Ozpin's office without knocking, all of them nearly crashing to the ground, Ozpin looked up from his folder full of papers.

"Ah, Team RWBY. Thank you for making it your new goal in life to get here speedily."

Yang was firing off questions before Weiss or Blake could take a breath to respond.

"What's the news about Ruby? Is she alright? Is she awake? Why are we here?"

"I was just about to explain that Ms. Xiao Long." The professor took short glances at all three of the girls. "Now, I have called you in here because I have gotten word of a medicinal staff being assembled looking to find a remedy for a certain student."

"That would be my doing, sir." Weiss said taking a step forward.

"Hmm… I figured it was. This has made some major headlines, and the amount of Lien being put into this is quite substantial."

"We all need our leader back, and I figured I could assist." Weiss took a deep breath. "After all, this is my fault."

"No, it's not Ms. Schnee. I saw the footage of the mission myself."

"_Footage?! There was footage?! How did he know exactly where we'd be?! He sent us on a race across Vytal to stop an alpha beowolf pack! He had no idea where we would end up! He told us himself that the area we were sent to cover had a seven mile radius._" Weiss was lost in thought when Blake spoke up, shoving her back in reality.

"There was footage?" Blake asked, taking the question straight from Weiss' mind.

"Yes, indeed there was. In fact, I have the exact moment at which Ruby was knocked unconscious. Would you all like to see?"

Weiss, knowing what was coming, turned and walked out of the door, closing it gently behind her.

"I presume the rest of you will be staying?"

"Yes." The girls answered together, wondering what had prompted Weiss to leave.

Ozpin got up from his desk and pulled a small chip from a container. Walking over to a wall with a large view screen, he put the chip into a port, and walked back to his desk.

"Take a seat." He said, motioning to the chairs in front of his desk.

Collectively, the girls sat down. Ozpin opened his scroll, inputted a few commands, and set it down on his desk as the screen flickered to life.

It showed someone walking towards a window, the camera pointing towards the ground to view the streets below, shattered glass littering the streets. The person was apparently in a tall building in a rundown town.

"Wait, that's where we were!" Yang gasped.

"Shhh…" Ozpin whispered. "All will be explained shortly. Watch for now."

On the ground, four people with distinctly feminine characteristics walked down the other side of the street.

"_That's us…" _Blake thought, fear causing a chill to go down her spine. "_How long was this person tailing us, and how did I not know they were there?_"

"His name is Shadow, and I employ him to monitor students on missions so that I can keep track of your performance in the field. He's the same one who provided film and intelligence for me during the Emerald Forest exercise. Every mission you've ever done, he's been there."

The two girls remained in silence as they watched on, assimilating every bit of information they could.

The screen flickered to a view from a rooftop, but it was further down the road and not the same building. The girls continued to walk and talk, planning out their combat strategy. They were quite far off, but the audio came in clear and crisp, almost like whoever was filming was standing right next to them.

"Also," Ozpin said. "You were bugged with microphones, and they've been synced with the video."

Blake and Yang nodded, having assumed this early on.

On the screen, Ruby was ready for action, laughing and pretending to karate chop at invisible enemies as Weiss scolded her.

"I'm going to kick their butts! They won't even know what's coming! I'll be fast and distract them, and Yang will blow them to pieces!" Ruby was acting like a ninja, activating tiny bits of her semblance to make it slightly more visual.

"You're going to get yourself killed acting like that!" Weiss was losing her already hardly present patience, and her leader was only making it worse.

"C'mon on Weiss! Have a little fun once in a while. You're always so uptight and whiny."

"I am not. I simply have a self-dignified image that I will maintain to the best of my ability."

"So, you're uptight?" Yang asked, chuckling a little.

Weiss groaned as she walked along. A rumbling shook the ground beneath them.

"I think we're close. Everyone get ready." Ruby matured almost instantly.

Weiss drew Myrtenaster with a flourish, dropping into a combat stance. Yang readied Ember Celica, loading in the belts of explosive shells into their chambers. Blake reached back and pulled out Gambol Shroud in its katana form. Ruby continued walking forward a few paces as she took a cartridge from the pouch on her side, and whipping Crescent Rose from its rack on her belt. Seamlessly she transformed her weapon into its fully extended scythe form, loading the clip into the chamber and racking the action.

Just as the last click of Ruby's sniper scythe had rung out, a wall from a factory in front of them was smashed to rubble. Two large beowolves came marching through the newly created hole.

"Plan of action, Ruby?" Weiss asked, ready to do whatever her leader commanded.

"Engage, and don't be killed!" Ruby yelled as she leaped forward, activating her semblance and disappearing.

"Thanks for the helpful tips!" Weiss yelled as she spun the chamber in her rapier, activating the blue dust and accelerating forward.

Yang and Blake hung back waiting to see what damage the two could do on their own.

"They're going to bring the building down." Yang said, more seriousness in her voice than usual.

"I'll bet money on that." Blake responded in the same tone.

Just as they predicted, Ruby reappeared above the beowolves, taking a hacking slice at both of them, just as Weiss took her horizontal swipe with a fully charged dust attack ready to freeze the creatures. Weiss saw that she would hit her leader if she followed through, so she diverted and slammed the blade into the side of the factory, sending a cascading sheet of ice up the wall. Ruby, not knowing what had happened, swung her scythe with full force, hacking off both heads in one swipe, but the momentum was too great to stop. Her blade struck the wall, fracturing it and causing a bit to crumble. Both bodies of the beowolves fell to the ground simultaneously.

"That's the second time I would have killed you this week because you wouldn't pay attention!" Weiss was furious, but only she knew it was because she would never forgive herself if she hurt Ruby.

"What are you talking about?! I clearly attacked first!" Ruby yelled back.

"We practice initial encounter attacks on a daily basis! How could you not know that I will always attempt to immobilize them!?"

"I'm sorry, alri-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the cracks spread all the way up the frozen wall. A bone chilling sound ripped through the air as the brick and mortar fell to pieces, both Weiss and Ruby right beneath the large chunks falling towards them, the rest of the building coming down with it.

Ruby closed her eyes, preparing for the end; an end which never came. She was hit in the side hard and scooped into a cradled position. Opening her eyes to see what had happened, she saw Yang who was carrying her away, and Blake trailing behind her with Weiss thrown over her shoulder.

Gaining a safe distance from the destruction, both girls were sat down as their rescuers gave a sigh of relief knowing that nobody had been hurt.

"You two are insufferable" Yang said between breaths.

Team RWBY had no time to prepare for the hell that had been unleashed upon them. Just as Weiss had opened her mouth to defend herself, innumerable howls and deep roars were heard through the streets on which they stood.

The camera cut out to another view from behind their current position on the street, showing the backs of all four girls as they turned to face the onslaught of noise.

"We are so fucked." Ruby said uncharacteristically, in a shrill whisper.

"Blake, how many?" Weiss asked, hoping for a small number.

"Uh, well… From what I can tell, maybe twenty-five at the least? I know there's three alphas. This seems like a den. We should go and call for backup, now. We just pissed them off."

Just then, a horde of beowolves gathered on the crumbled remains of the building, a swarming black mass. Naturally, their focus landed on the frightened team in front of them.

"Yep… We're fucked. I think we should be going now." Yang said with nervousness in her voice.

Splitting itself, the horde divided in the center, allowing three large alpha beowolves to walk to the front.

"Really, can we go?" Weiss asked with severe concern in her voice. "This isn't going to end well for us."

"We're not going anywhere." Ruby's voice had changed drastically, meaning she had kicked herself into leader mode. "This is our mission, and we're going to complete it." She unfolded Crescent Rose, putting it in rifle form. By natural reaction, everyone followed suit, drawing their weapons.

"Alright, so here's the plan: Kill them all, then go home and eat cookies." Ruby said with plenty of malice and determination while raising her rifle.

The alpha beowolves roared loudly, giving out the signal that lunch was now being served. They surged forward, bullets ringing out, cutting down a few, but it was no significant loss.

Ruby bolted forward, reloading her ammunition and extending her scythe blade, taking a large swipe and sending fur and blood everywhere.

Weiss had taken a more tactical approach, using an air step glyph to gain a vertical look at the battlefield.

Yang gave Blake a nod, and launched herself into the air, a few feet from Weiss. Taking aim, she fired Ember Celica several times into a black crowd, peppering a few of the beasts.

Blake ran straight into the throng, firing Gambol Shroud several times before morphing it to injure the close range opponents that were within her reach.

Though all members were hacking, slicing, and gunning down the wolves, it seemed as though Blake had underestimated the number by many. In fact, it seemed there were more now than when the battle initially began.

"We're not getting anywhere Ruby! We have to get out of here or we'll be overrun!" Blake yelled in a panic.

Ruby thought as she diced wolves.

"_Blake's right… This is becoming hopeless_."

"We're falling back! Yang, you and Blake cover Weiss and I, and we'll take down whatever we can on our way out!"

"Gotcha covered Sis!" Yang yelled as she ducked under a swipe from Crescent Rose. "Blake, jump!"

Blake sprung into the air just in time as a salvo of white hot bullets went spiraling below her, clearing out the nearby area.

"Weiss!" Ruby called. "You hear what's going on?"

"Yeah, I'm ready! Let's take the alphas down, or at least try!"

"Go!" Ruby ordered as they sprang into action.

The team executed the plan. Weiss and Ruby moved quickly towards the leaders of the pack as Blake and Yang kept the grunts off their backs. Putting a bullet through the first's jaw, he dropped in a mess of gore and black fur.

Weiss had moved in, as the other was dazed, slipping her rapier charged with ice into the stomach of the second, freezing it solid. Pulling her blade outwards, she knocked the pommel onto the large frozen wolf, effectively smashing it into pieces.

The third was more prepared after watching its fellow wolves expended. Knowing what was coming as ruby swung her scythe in a large arc, it caught it on an arm spike and deflected, flinging Ruby to the side as it flailed. She hit the side of a building, slumping to the ground.

Weiss was in shock at what had occurred as the alpha advanced towards her. In a desperate attempt, she swung her blade, charged with red dust, only to be rebounded off a protective bony plate. Pulling back and swinging, the wolf knocked the girl off her feet and sent her skidding along the ground. Jumping forwards, the large wolf landed on her chest, shattering several ribs and pinning her beneath its massive weight.

Blake and Yang were too distracted by their own objective to see their teammate lying in dire need of help. The wolf decided to make the final blow by reaching up, and bringing its massive clawed hand down. As it raised up and swung downwards, time slowed. Weiss saw nothing but a blur of something ram itself into the arm of the extremely large creature.

Ruby had come to save Weiss with whatever strength she had left and had thrown herself at the twisted animal. Not prepared for the early contact, the beast looked confused as it followed through. Making solid contact with the side of Ruby's head, once again she was flung from the spot and crashed nearby with a loud thud.

The creature looked away from Weiss as it observed the girl that has appeared out of nowhere. Weiss took this opportunity to hold out her fingers and create a holding glyph around the alpha's throat, moving it to hold the monster in midair, effectively cutting off the air supply. The alpha flailed around with no hope in sight, slowly suffocating. As the alpha made its final movements, Weiss flung the beast to the ground with a flick of her fingers. "_Nobody hurts Ruby and lives…"_

"Yang!" The injured girl yelled, pain surging through her, but she continued. "Call for help! Ruby's hurt!" The pain had got to her head, and the world around her faded to black.

Yang stopped battling the smaller wolves to see who had yelled her name. What she saw was her little sister lying on the ground, a pool of blood surrounding her head, and Weiss with an alpha beowolf lying next to her, both of them unmoving. She pressed an emergency button pinned to her waist that was connected to her scroll, sending an immediate signal to Beacon, telling them something went wrong.

Her scroll spoke. "ETA for emergency evacuation at your location: Fifteen minutes.

"Blake! We're not waiting around for them to find our bodies! We're leaving now! Grab Weiss!"

The screen in Ozpin's office cut to static. It seemed that Blake and Yang shared the same feelings of shock and confusion at what they had just witnessed as they had wide eyes, mouths slightly opened. Both of them had not been expecting what they had just seen.


	5. Chapter 4

**Burden and Blame Chapter 4**

* * *

Blake could understand why Weiss had gotten so upset when she was blamed for Ruby's injury. Yang had never even stopped to consider that Ruby had defended the girl who had always complained about her.

"B-but, why?" Yang choked out.

"Apparently Ms. Rose possessed the motive to do what she did." Ozpin stated calmly.

"Yang, you and I both know why she did what she did." Blake said, evidently hinting.

"Ha, not possible in this lifetime. Not the Ice Princess. Not her. All she ever does is push Ruby around."

"This sounds like a matter you two should discuss on your own." Professor Ozpin said, standing up from his desk. "I'm sure both of you want to think this over and talk among yourselves."

He walked slowly over to the door, turning the knob and opening it. As he opened the door, Yang saw Weiss a little ways down the hall, huddled against a wall with her head on her knees and arms wrapped around her legs. Blake caught sight and immediately got up and ran down the hall towards her teammate with Yang hot on her tail.

"Weiss, are you alright?" Blake asked with concern as she and Yang reached the audibly sobbing girl.

Weiss looked up, and Blake flinched as she saw the mixture of pain and guilt. Tears shone against the light and continued to trickle out.

Yang had turned away after seeing the expression, knowing that it was because Weiss still blamed herself for what happened to Ruby, and Yang had only made it worse by blaming and yelling at her. Now, Yang was trying not to cry herself as she saw the damage that had been done by her.

"I-I'm just…"

"Weiss, I'm incredibly sorry for pinning what happened on you. I know it wasn't your fault. I just needed someone to blame. Ruby was protecting you and what happened was her choice..." Yang trailed off as she faced Weiss, a tear rolling down her own cheek.

A moment of deathly silence passed before Weiss spoke, hurt filling her voice.

"I shouldn't have made such a stupid mistake! I should have died for slipping up that badly! Ruby shouldn't have risked her life for me to begin with! I never wanted to see her like that, and I made that thing pay! I suffocated it slowly, making sure it hurt for what it did!" Weiss was now sending words like bullets at Yang who recoiled at every pause.

"I never knew what it was like to have a friend, and now, the only person I had any ounce of true caring for is currently sitting in bed comatose! It's all my fault! You were right when you yelled at me!" Weiss had nearly screamed the last word before collapsing back into her knees and continued crying.

Yang was hurt in a way that made getting shot feel like getting pricked by a pin. Every ounce of happiness seemed voided as Yang sat down next to Weiss and leaned on her shoulder.

Blake was still trying to figure out what had just happened as she walked away, deciding to let this solve itself.

After a few minutes of misery, Weiss had finally gotten around to the point of coherent speech.

"While you and Blake were watching what happened, I came out here and called my dad."

Yang lifted her head quickly. "What?! Are you leaving?!"

"No. I'll explain later. Where did Blake go?"

"She can't handle sad or emotional things. Don't worry though." Yang smiled widely. "I'm working on fixing that."

"Then let's go find her so I can clue you two into what happened."

Yang and Weiss searched the school from top to bottom, and eventually found Blake reading her book on the roof.

"Can you come down Ms. Acrobat?" Yang called. "Weiss has something she needs to tell us."

"Well this ought to be amusing. Has our Snow Angel confessed her love and adoration for Ruby?"

"You know, you're really starting to push it!" Weiss said with blood filling her face.

"What was that? I didn't hear any denial…" Yang said grinning.

"Huh? Ugh! I-I'd never! You two are insufferable!" Weiss was silently begging for the torture to end. She knew they were right, but there was no way in hell she'd openly admit it.

Blake decided she had her fill of amusement with the flustered heiress, so she slid down, ready to hear the news.

"Alright." Yang said optimistically. "What's the deal with you calling your father?"

"Um… Well, I did some research a few days ago into current dust applications, and I came across something that seemed interesting. Apparently green dust can be used as a healing agent in small amounts."

"What's this got to do with your father?" Blake asked inquisitively.

"Schnee Dust Company ring a bell?" Weiss responded rhetorically.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I called my dad and told him that my team was a bunch of weak idiots, and that one had gotten knocked unconscious, so I had to step in and help because the medical staff here at Beacon was pathetic." Weiss looked down at her feet guiltily.

"With a little more narcissism and praise for his work, he gave me an idea to infuse the medicine and dispatched two company airships. One incoming to Beacon now with a crate of green dust and a team of his finest dust agents, and another sent to the lab I financed to pick up the chemists and experimental medicine." Weiss glanced upwards to see two smiling faces.

"So, how long?" Blake asked calmly.

"Both should be here in an hour at best."

"So that's why I've gotten word of a request to land here from your father's company…" A voice spoke from the doorway to the roof.

Professor Ozpin stood with a coffee mug and his cane, a faint smile spread across his face.

"You're going to need some equipment, so I have told the medical staff to follow your orders." He took a sip from his mug. "It's all in your hands now." He turned to walk back down. "I highly suggest you inform Ms. Rose of your emotional state whenever she wakes up." A small chuckle was heard as he disappeared down the stairs.

Weiss wanted to scream. How could everyone know how she felt?

"_I bet Yang or Blake went and told JNPR, then they told everyone."_ Then she considered something else._ "No, it's Ozpin. He knows everything anyway."_

"Well that was a thing." Yang repeated her catch phrase as she smirked.

Blake spoke up as Weiss groaned deeply. "I guess we all have work to do. We don't have much time before everyone gets here."

Weiss regained her train of thought. "Alright, so we'll go brief the nurses on what we're doing, and have everything ready once my father's agents get here. We're going to have Ruby back by tonight."

The team walked towards the medical ward and opened the door to Ruby's room. Massive amounts of movement surprised them as they walked in. Machines were everywhere, bright lights illuminating the normally dim room, and medical staff everywhere. Ozpin had been right when he said he had prepared them.

A doctor walked towards them. As he approached, they noticed a name tag the read "Henry Grey, Head of Staff".

"Hello Ms. Schnee, my name is Dr. Grey, and I'll be the operations leader. Professor Ozpin gave me strict orders to follow what you and your staff say, but I will offer my advice if it comes within my field."

Weiss returned the formal introduction. "Thank you Doctor, I'll make sure to keep you in touch with our experimental dust expert and lead chemist. They'll be your co-workers on this project."

"Understood." The doctor turned to give brief tour of the setup. "We have any and every type of medical tool that has been cleared for use. Every machine has been tested and run through diagnostics several times. Accuracy is guaranteed, and no flaws have been found." He took a pause to let the information soak in. "Your friend is in good hands, and with everything coming together, she'll be awake before you know it."

A nurse with a clipboard walked towards the doctor.

"Sir, the dust has arrived and the chemists and other medicines are three minutes away."

"Alright, thank you Sandy, please have the dust ready by the time everyone else gets here."

"I'll see to it immediately." She walked away as she began calling orders out to everyone.

The doctor turned back to the team. "You see, there has been no severe injury to any student until now to actually have needed our full attention. We are over-staffed by plenty, but it's just a precaution. We're glad to help."

"So that's why I haven't seen this many people here before…" Yang was still mystified by the amount of attention Weiss had drawn to Ruby.

"Yes, precisely."

An intercom system beeped, and everyone became silent and still.

"Attention everyone, all medical staff on call. Please gather in the fusion lab."

"They're here. It's time we prepared."

The doctor led the team into a large room with several long tables and many chairs. In all of them, highly ranked medical professionals, her father's top dust agents, and an assortment of different companies' top chemists sat in silence, ready to start. A man who had been sitting behind a laptop stood up and called to the room.

"I have an idea! We're going to need one vial of powdered green dust, and a liquid ounce of the testing medicine. If my equation is correct, this will allow the medicine to function, initiate the side effects, and then the dust will activate, neutralizing all of them."

"Can we run the numbers for ourselves?" A man spoke up from one of the tables.

"I'll send it to you now."

Soon, everyone had pitched their own ideas and had eventually agreed on one simple solution: Inject the dust infused medicine in small doses until something happened, for better or worse.

Somewhere along the line, someone asked why they just didn't perfect the medicine to start with, but that would have taken days. Nothing compared to the months it would have originally been, but still too much time.

There was a mutual agreement that even with all of their knowledge and expertise, there was still a decent chance for things to go terribly wrong.

Too much medicine and Ruby would die instantly. Too much green dust and Ruby would burn from the inside out, resulting in a slow and painful death.

Weiss was pacing nervously as she and her remaining team waited outside the fusion lab, hoping for the expedient completion of the first batch of their miracle cure. About half an hour later, the chemists and dust agents emerged from the blast proof door. The man who came out first held a case, nitrogen vaporizing as it warmed.

"This is our best set. We've tested it on rodents, and all of them seemed perfectly fine. Even when we ran full spectrum analyses, they showed that nothing was harmed. So we upped the dosage to fit a human of her size, and this is what we created."

"Are you sure this is the best you can accomplish?" Weiss asked in her most commanding tone.

"Ms. Schnee, you have brought together the best of the best; if there is better, then no one is good enough to reach it."

Yang and Blake came to Weiss' side and stood by her.

"Don't worry Weiss; I'm sure that this will work." Yang said confidently.

"Let's just get this over with." Weiss said with a hidden tone of fear.

As they reentered Ruby's now well-lit room, they noticed her current state. A heart monitor beeped slowly to match the sleeping girl's heart rate showing a steady pace, as multiple other devices were aiding her survival.

Everyone stopped to look at the group that had entered, making way for them to get to Ruby's bed.

The lead chemist, head doctor, and dust expert gathered around the bed. The chemist twisted the lock on the medicine's case and pulled out a vial. The medicine was dark green in color, but shone brightly. Handing the medicine to the doctor, he uncapped the glass tube and picked up a syringe. Filling the needle to the top, he sat the empty vial down, and cleaned the end of the needle off with a sterile wipe.

"How many milligrams is the initial dose?" He asked prepping an area on Ruby's neck for injection. "Six, then halve the amount to three." The chemist replied. "You may want to wait fifteen seconds in between each set so the dust won't accumulate and burn her." The dust expert said.

"Noted. Well, for whatever happens, thank you all." He said as he steadied the needle above Ruby's neck and slowly pushed it in. Breaking skin, the doctor injected the amount that was advised. Fifteen seconds passed, nothing.

_Beep _went Ruby's heart monitor.

Three more milligrams and fifteen seconds later, still nothing.

_Beep._

The process was repeated, nothing. Ruby's heartbeat wasn't showing any signs that would indicate a change.

_Beep._

"Upping the dosage to eight milligrams and wait twenty seconds would be the next step." The chemist announced, looking at his chart. The amount was injected, and nothing.

_Beep. _

Half the medicine was gone, and no results had been found. Again, the doctor injected more of the green substance. Time passed. No signs of change revealed themselves.

Yang had been holding Blake's hand, and had cut off the blood. Weiss was keeping her hands in tight fists, turning her knuckles white from tension.

_Beep_.

"More. Up the dosage."

They were up to twelve milligrams a dosage, and it was beginning to get risky.

_Beep._

"One more dosage at fourteen milligrams, and we'll be out of medicine."

"Do it." Weiss whispered inaudibly.

"_This has to work. I know it has to. She's too strong to waste her life like this."_ Weiss thought.

The last dose was administered, and minutes had passed. The same beep had filled the silent room as everyone had stopped to watch what would happen.

As a few minutes turned to a half hour, Weiss felt broken. Everything she had done to wake Ruby up was in vein. She began to cry silently, as did Yang who watched as her sister lay dormant; the only sign of her being alive was the calm rise and fall of her chest. Even Blake had a tough time keeping tears away as she saw her overly active teammate lay unmoving.

Nothing in the world was right. Everything team RWBY had accomplished, and how far they had come was all for naught without their companion to help cherish the memories.

Weiss snapped on the inside. Somewhere, all of her feelings became unhinged as she fell to the ground, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to control herself.

Yang and Blake did their best to console the girl, but nothing was working. For hours, long into the night, Weiss wept next to Ruby. Everyone had left. Yang had gone off into town, trying to find some way to release her emotion, Blake thought it would be best to let Weiss get it all out on her own, and all but the permanent medical staff had gone back to their normal duties.

_Beep._

At some point, Weiss had curled up on the floor next to Ruby's bed, and cried herself into a troubled sleep. She began dreaming of the charismatic girl.

_Beep._

Weiss was next to Ruby's bed. Ruby was still sleeping. But something was off, and Weiss knew it.

"_Ruby! Are you alright?"_ Weiss asked. "Come on, get up!"

"_I can't Weiss… I'm gone."_

"_Ruby! Don't say that!"_

"_Weiss, I hope you know this is your fault."_

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

_Somewhere, Weiss heard shouting._

"_I know it's my fault Ruby! I tried to get you back!"_

"_Weiss… It doesn't matter. I still hate you."_

"_Don't hate me! Please! You're my only friend!"_

"_I'm not friends with a selfish little girl. I've never wanted to be your friend, and you aren't worth my time."_

"_Weiss!" _The shouting got louder.

"_You're finally getting exactly what you deserve Weiss. This is what you get for taking me for granted. Goodbye. I won't be leaving you in life, but I'll leave you in mind."_

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

_**Slap!**_

Weiss woke up with a pain in the side of her face. She scrambled to her feet, adrenaline shooting through her.

"Weiss! Something's going on!" Yang was standing next to Blake, her right hand red from hitting Weiss."

"W-what?" Weiss was dazed as she regained her awareness.

"Ruby's heart rate jumped and her brain activity was going crazy!"

Weiss turned to look at the heart monitor. Several quick spikes showed that Yang was right.

"Where is the medical staff?!" Weiss' fear began drifting to her dream.

"They contacted the doctor and he's coming as fast as he can."

A sickening sound came from next to them. A painful scream echoed through the room as Ruby bolted straight up. Everyone froze in fear as Ruby started convulsing.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. _Her heart rate monitor was going wild.

"Someone get the nurses! NOW!" Weiss shouted as she watched in horror.

Blake dashed out of the room in search for help and Yang had gone to find something to help.

Ruby was now thrashing around, screaming in pure agony. Unexpectedly, her screams started sounding like she was gargling water, and blood erupted from her mouth. It splattered everywhere as the expected, albeit highly delayed, side effects took hold. Yang ran back into the room.

"Weiss, I've got the green dust…!" She froze as the sight before her sapped all ability to move.

"What are you waiting for?! Give it here!" Weiss ran over, grabbing the vial from Yang, who was still paralyzed.

Weiss ran back to Ruby's bedside, taking syringe from the bedside table. Loading the dust into the needle, she held down Ruby's arm as she injected a sizable amount into the flailing girl.

The doctor ran into the room with Blake. He hung a blood bag from a hook and putting the needle into Ruby after clearing her airway. Running over to a cabinet, he found an emergency needle of morphine. Putting the shot into Ruby's other arm, the medicines took effect and the green dust began reversing the adverse situation. Ruby's heart slowed down to a deadly pace as her eyes remained open and glossy. It seemed as though if a single heartbeat was missed, it could send Ruby into Death's cold grip.

The blood spattered girl was moved to a new bed and cleaned up. She gave occasional eye movements, but her mouth remained slightly open, and she never closed her eyes.

Weiss and the rest of the team were rushed out of the room into the waiting area by the doctor as the medical staff was called back to make sure everything was alright with Ruby. Nobody else was there to inform them of what had happened, or what was going to happen.

Weiss and the other two girls waited in the office for what seemed like hours, hoping for news soon. Early in hours of the next morning, the doctor opened the door and walked towards them. Weiss was still wide awake as she rushed over to him. Taking a deep breath as everyone else caught up, he spoke.

"She's alive, and she's awake. Her coma has subsided, but there was something else."

Everyone held their breath.

"She has lost parts of her memory. We still aren't sure what she does and doesn't remember, but we know it's extensive."

A tear rolled down Weiss' cheek. Part of her was happy Ruby was awake, and another was thinking back to her nightmare next to Ruby. But one phrase stuck out:

"_I'll be leaving you in mind…"_

"_Wait._" Weiss thought, her eyes going wide. "_Mind… She'll leave me in mind. She might have memory loss… Oh no. She doesn't know who I am!"_

Weiss dropped to the ground, hurting as a sharp pain ran through her heart.


	6. Chapter 5

**Burden and Blame Chapter 5**

* * *

A distorted voice broke its way into Weiss' consciousness.

"Weiss, please, get up. It's almost been a week. We understand you're upset, but this is starting to become unhealthy." Blake said, kneeling at Weiss' bedside, attempting to get a response.

Weiss was awake physically, but mentally and emotionally, she was gone. Even Yang had taken the situation considerably better, but at least Ruby remembered her. However, for Blake and Weiss, it wasn't the same case. Weiss made the connection with her nightmare and it sent her into a void of pain and hopelessness. She had gotten up minutes later, asking if she could see Ruby. The doctor allowed it, letting the team in to see their leader. Ruby almost immediately noticed Yang walk in, smiling and greeting her from the bed she had been moved to. But the hard-hitting answer to the unspoken question had come after a puzzled look crossed over Ruby's face.

"Hey Yang, who are your friends?" She had asked.

Weiss froze, turned on a dime, and ran out the door, slamming it behind her. Both Blake and Yang felt the frustration and hurt radiate through the air as the sound echoed through the room.

"Sheesh, what's up with her? All I did was ask a question." Ruby said, clueless as to what actually happened.

"Ruby, there's something you need to know…" Yang began, filling in the missing pieces for her.

After Weiss left, she went to their dorm. Crawling into her bunk, she curled up into a ball. She stayed there for days, only getting up to use the bathroom. She refused food, and barely drank any water. Now, Blake was doing her best to fix the shattered girl.

"Weiss, you can't stay like this forever. You're not going to help anything by laying here and watching time go by. I know you are upset, but it's going to be alright."

Weiss looked up at Blake and deep into her eyes. A blank expression showed more agony than any other.

"Blake." Weiss' voice was monotone and quiet, filling Blake with sympathy for the disheartened girl. "Do you know what it's like to lose the person closest to you?"

"Yes, I do." Blake responded, already not linking where the conversation was going.

"Do you know what it's like to have them in a coma for weeks, then only to see them vomiting blood on the brink of death, and have them forget you even exist within the span of a couple of hours?"

The verbal blow struck Blake speechless. Weiss was starting to sob, shuddering at the image of what side effects the medicine had on Ruby. Blake was silent, unable to match what Weiss had gone through.

"You know exactly how I feel about Ruby. It's hard for me to feel that way about anyone anymore. For what it's worth, I'm happy Ruby doesn't remember me. I don't deserve her. I got her hurt, then I nearly killed her, and now she's clueless as to who we are." Weiss was choking over her own words as everything she felt spilled out without moderation.

"Weiss, you did everything you could. You went to every length to get her back, and I think that was an incredible feat." Blake was showing more sympathy now than in many other points in her life, and it was scaring her more than the depressed Weiss confessing her feelings.

"It was selfish!" Weiss screamed. "All because I got attached!"

"Calm down!" Blake shook Weiss by her shoulder, trying to make her see how deluded she was.

"Blake?"

Blake stopped shaking Weiss as she turned to see Yang in a partially open doorway.

"I finally got her to speak, but now she's blaming herself for all of this." Blake said quickly, trying to explain herself.

"Blaming herself for all of what?"

The door opened more and Ruby, pushed by her larger sister, stumbled into the room. Her eyes locked with Weiss', leaving no room for talk as Weiss leapt out of her bed and ran over to Ruby, giving an extremely tight hug.

"I'm so sorry Ruby, I didn't ever mean for this to happen!" Weiss cried into Ruby's shoulder.

Blake moved over to where Yang stood in the doorway, motioning that they should leave the two to catch up.

"Yang told me what happened, Weiss." Ruby said pulling Weiss off and holding her by the sides of her arms.

"R-really?" Weiss used a sleeve of her dress to wipe away the tears.

"Yup." Ruby smiled. "You got me up. It was a bit painful, but it was worth it." She giggled, somehow eliminating the room full of tension. "But another thing. When I was asleep, I heard crying. It was in lots of my dreams. I searched endlessly for it, but I could never find who it was." Ruby took a deep breath. "Until I got to the door with Yang. I recognized it as the exact same. It was you, wasn't it?"

Weiss was dazed as Ruby spoke, pinning her. There was no possible way to get out of it. "Yes, it was." Weiss looked at her feet, ashamed.

"Now explain why the first time I saw you after waking up, I felt butterflies in my stomach."

"We have a long history, Ruby." Weiss began, taking in a deep sigh.

This was going to be a very long night, and the outcome was unpredictable.


	7. Chapter 6

**Burden and Blame Chapter 6**

* * *

Blake was standing next to the doorway with Yang as Ruby and Weiss talked quietly, inaudible from across the room. Yang was slowly inching forward, trying to catch what was being said, but Blake noticed the small movements and came up with a plan.

"You know Yang, we could go on a walk by ourselves and talk alone and just let these two catch up. I mean, Weiss did so much to get this moment, she deserves it." Blake whispered in Yang's ear.

"Oh, well I guess that sounds more fun than eavesdropping on them. Alright, we'll go for a walk. But Weiss better not put any moves on my sister or her head's going to end up like the wall over there." She replied with a smile as she motioned with her hand to the fist sized hole in the wall with scorch marks around it. It was a lasting reminder of Yang's anger at Weiss, showing what exactly would happen.

"Let's just go already." Blake sighed, opening the door quietly and gesturing for Yang to get out of the room.

Yang left the room with one final glance back to make sure Weiss wasn't already crossing a line. Blake followed closely behind, closing the door with as much silence as she could get. Of course, as luck would have it, the door gave a large creaking noise just before it was shut. Blake wordlessly cursed herself, hoping she didn't ruin the moment for Weiss and Ruby.

"And you thought I was being rambunctious." Yang laughed. She knew that Blake always prided herself on being quiet, and that must have been a tough moment for her.

"Go, now." Blake commanded.

Yang began walking down the hall. Blake caught up alongside her, glancing over to see the thoughtful look on her partner's face.

"_She's probably thinking of the many ways to injure Weiss without killing her. Ruby's lucky to have her as a sister; she does a good job."_ Blake internally commented.

Though there was a few details Blake didn't know, like how Yang was rooting for Weiss.

"_This would be good for both Ruby and Weiss. Though, I hope this doesn't feel forced. Honestly, I don't know how Ruby would treat an advance from a girl. Would she go for it?" _Yang sighed out loud and continued thinking, not noticing the occasional glance from Blake. _"Well, Ruby saved Weiss for some reason… And it doesn't necessarily mean she feels anything in that way, but there was that look Ruby got when she saw Weiss for the first time after waking up…" _Her thoughts were broken as a door slam was heard from somewhere behind them.

They had walked a considerable distance from their dorm, but both distracted by their own contemplations. Both Yang and Blake looked behind them, not sure of what had happened and where the sound had come from.

"I wonder what that was about." Yang said as she started walking again.

"Another team might be having internal issues, or somebody closed the door a little too hard?" Blake suggested as she shrugged, not caring too much for the topic.

Blake walked a few more paces before stopping to look out a window. "Surely not this late though. People are trying to sleep." Blake's eyes observed the largely cleared area through the window. The empty space was flat, but at its edge, a forest and hills overtook the flat land, the trees black in the night. Yang stood beside Blake, also looking out the window, straining her eyes to see as far as possible.

"You know if you stare at it long and hard enough, it seems like there's something moving in the distance." Yang commented, ruining the silence Blake so thoroughly enjoyed. Blake didn't respond, but she used her enhanced eyesight to see if what Yang said was true. Fear struck her as she realized what Yang thought was an illusion was actual commotion, and it seemed to only be increasing.

"Yang, you need to go tell a teacher we have a problem." Blake said with a dismayed tone, expression matching.

"Don't even try to mess with me Blake, it won't work." Yang chuckled.

"Yang, something's swarming, and there's more every second. Either that, or it's getting closer." Blake said in a way that spoke louder than she actually did.

"Let me look again." Yang said, pressing her face against the window. "Oh shit, those look like Grimm!" She jumped back, nearly knocking Blake over. "Why hasn't there been an alarm?!"

"I don't really know why, but you need to go fix that. I'll go tell Weiss and Ruby while you tell the staff." Blake said, not waiting for an answer as she turned and bolted down the hall.

Blake was panicking as she reached the door to their dorm. It had taken a good two minutes for her to sprint the distance back, and that meant time for whatever was out there to amass. She burst through the door immediately shouting information. "Ruby, Weiss, we've got a major problem! There's an army of Grimm on the outer edges of the forest!" Blake stopped as the lack of people in the room surprised her. Only Weiss, who hadn't seemed to be paying attention while sitting on the windowsill and looking out the large window, was the only one in the room besides Blake herself.

"Weiss, where's Ruby?" her question sounded horrendously dumb out loud.

"She's gone. I'm not sure where, or what I did, but she left." Weiss said, still not looking at Blake.

"What happened?" Blake's voice only seemed to shrink.

"We were talking about the past, so I brought up how we met." Weiss' voice sounded monotone and void of any emotion. "She got infuriated, yelling about how I always told her she wasn't good enough, and that she wasn't meant to be leader." Weiss' voice dropped into a barely audible whisper. "At least she remembers something about me…" Weiss hugged her knees to her chest, shaking from nerves and tension.

"Weiss, I'm only going to ask this of you because we're close to being attacked. I need you to suck it up, and be the fighter I know you are. I know I'm not usually the supportive type, but we're going to need you, and we're going to need Ruby." Blake's determined voice gained confidence with every word. "Now, tell me where she went, please."

"She just said she was going for a walk to clear her head." Weiss said, standing up.

Blake turned and walked out the door. "Come on, we need to find her quickly." Weiss shadowed her as both of them hurried down the hallway. "Where's Yang?" she asked.

"She went to go tell the teachers about what was happening. I'll show you where they're coming from so you can see what we're up against, but we'll have to hurry." Blake said as the brisk walk turned into a run.

Both of them reached the hallway. Blake pointed to the large windows that went down the hall. "Look out one. You're not going to like what you see." She whispered. Weiss walked over to the first in the hall. She stood, looking out over the field and trees. "W-what? How did that many get so close without a single person noticing until now?"

"I don't know." Blake responded as an intercom and a siren went of simultaneously. _"All students must report to their dorms immediately and prepare for attack. This is not a drill."_ The siren continued to whir.

"We really do need to find Ruby, so come on. Yang will probably be back at our dorm room after we find her." Blake said over the siren as Weiss continued to look.

Suddenly, Weiss' jaw dropped in awe. "Blake, there's something you should know." Weiss turned and pointed behind her out the window. "I've found where Ruby went."

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, confused. "I thought you said she was going for a walk."

"She's walking alright; straight towards the Grimm, and they're moving right at her." Weiss was completely dumbfounded by what was going on. First Ruby had flared up at her for something she didn't even know; now she was walking right at the innumerable Grimm. Weiss no longer had any emotion left to expel. It had all been used on the past month of Ruby's near death, coma, and amnesia.

"What in the world is she thinking?" Blake wanted to break the glass to jump down and chase Ruby to keep her from being killed.

Weiss watched, helpless as the girl she cared for approached closer and closer to the horde, and what could be her death. Ruby stopped walking, reaching under her cloak.

"_Just get out of there while you can Ruby." _

Ruby swung her arm and Crescent Rose sprang to life, spinning out into its scythe form.

"Hey!" Blake and Weiss turned to see Yang running towards them. "It's nothing to worry about, just a migration. They don't pose any threat to us as long as we leave them alone." Yang was cheerfully looking at everyone until she noticed her sister wasn't anywhere around. "Um, Weiss, where's Ruby?"

"You'll want to see for yourself." Weiss said in a cold tone as she pointed out the window.

Yang slowly approached the window, hesitant to know what the window had to do with why her sister wasn't around. She peered into the twilight, taking in what she was seeing. "She said she was going for a walk." Weiss added.

"You've got to be kidding me! That's not a walk! In fact, I think she's suicidal! What did you do in the few minutes we were gone?!" Yang continued to verbally abuse Weiss as Ruby made her advance.

Ruby charged, using her semblance to thrust herself towards the crowd of monsters. She stopped within point blank range of the first Grimm, shooting a round into the ground to propel the blade upwards and slicing off its head. Using momentum, she hurled the large sickle in a huge arc, putting deep gashes on the new line of advancing Grimm. Many creatures had encircled her, forcing her to keep slashing. Every one she took down was replaced by two more. Spinning in a circle, she shot the last three rounds in her clip to create a deadly whirlwind.

As Ruby started to stop, she instantly dropped the empty magazine and delved into her pouch for a fresh clip. Reloading had become instinctive with all the training she had done, and so it was in and bolted within seconds. A sea of black was near engulfing her.

"_I have one shot; well, five. For the love of dust, please let this work."_

She took her final slices and slammed Crescent Rose into the ground, blade and handle facing upwards. Stepping onto it, two shots lifted Ruby up like a rocket, and the final three to angle herself out and away from all of the Grimm. Ruby had gained a considerable distance from the large group of monsters and landed shortly after. Regaining her bearings, she faced the herd. Crescent Rose whirled up and over her head and into the ground, cutting deep into the ground. The empty clip was ejected, and Ruby reached back for another, more _special_ clip in a pouch next to her weapon rack. The black box slid smoothly in, but on the click, a suction created an air-tight vacuum between the clip and rifle.

"We all better get away from the windows." Yang said bluntly, watching her sister load the all-to-familiar ammo. "She's either backed into a corner, or Weiss really pissed her off." The two did as she suggested, backing up to the opposite wall.

Ruby was ready. The Grimm were charging at full speed, but it still wouldn't save them. Ruby shot once, aimed more to the left, and shot again. Five shots in a line. Glowing black and purple trails formed behind the rounds in the darkening light. Five loud roars were heard as air was sucked into where the bullets had impacted. Ruby hit the ground, knowing what was about to happen. Light itself seemed to warp before being violently expelled along with the screams of creatures being vaporized in what was a small nuclear blast of dark matter. Dirt and debris were flung everywhere, creating a dust storm that whipped around Ruby, forcing her to use her cloak to shield her.

Shock waves rippled through the air, all the way down the field, and back to Beacon. Windows shattered along the walls, and the building shook as though it was about to come down. When the dust had settled a little bit, Ruby got up to look at the damage.

"_What the hell have I done…"_


	8. Chapter 7

**Burden and Blame Chapter 7**

* * *

Fires burned. An entire section of the grounds had been vaporized. A large chunk of forest now stood as ash. Where the rounds had exploded, a gaping chasm had opened up. Dust hung low to the ground as wind swept it slowly along. Smoke curled up into the night, putting an eerie haze in the sky.

Ruby stood in a trance. The destructive scene laid out before her was of her hand. Heat was still prevalent throughout the atmosphere. Any closer to the explosion and she would have met the same fate as the Grimm, incinerated on the spot. Nothing around her moved, save for a calm breeze. Looking down at her feet, she saw Crescent Rose. It remained in the same spot from when she had dropped to the ground for cover. Slowly bending over, sore from shock, she picked up the cherished weapon. She sat down on the ground slowly and began cleaning the dust off using her sleeve. Manually, she pulled out the expended black magazine from the rifle. With a click, it popped out. Purple smoke wafted outwards and into the air. Crescent Rose automatically folded back into its compact form as Ruby stood up to put it back on her belt rack.

Taking a deep breath, Ruby surveyed the scene. Turning around, she faced Beacon as a group of people rushed across the field headed for her. She looked down at the black cartridge in her hand and slid it back into the special pouch on her back, next her weapon. She looked back to the small crowd and saw Yang, Blake, and Weiss, accompanied by Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. Ruby started walking toward them, meeting them in the middle of the field. Yang opened her mouth, about to begin a tirade before Ozpin spoke, cutting her off.

"Miss Rose," Ozpin spoke. "You have caused, singlehandedly, the most damage this school has seen in years. Several hundred yards of school property has now become a hole, and the forest is on fire. Not to mention the panic you caused the other students when you managed to blow out all of the windows and cause your own miniature earthquake." Ruby looked down in shame at the list of events she had caused. "But," Ozpin said with a smirk, "you have also destroyed the largest recorded Grimm migration in Vytal. You have potentially saved thousands of lives throughout towns that would have been in their path," He paused to let the better information sink in. "And so, I think we may be able to forgive the destruction you have wrought." He finished with a smile as Ruby looked up, expression much lighter.

Yang was becoming fed up with the neglect of how her sister was actually faring. Ruby saw this and quickly improvised, not wanting her to blow up in front of everyone.

"Well, thank you Professor Ozpin, for everything, but we really must get going; lots of training and studying for classes to do!" She said hurriedly as she rushed her team off in the direction of the school.

"But Miss Rose, how are you doing?" Ozpin called.

"Finally you ask!" Yang yelled back before Ruby could put a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up, Yang." Ruby commanded, pushing her further away. "I'm doing fine Professor Ozpin, don't worry about it!" She called back, smiling in a cheesy manor.

"_I don't even want to know…" _Ozpin thought as he pulled out his scroll.

After reaching the school, Ruby started explaining to her sister what had happened before Yang could start to speak.

"Don't worry Yang, I'm fine. You know I can handle myself in a fight," she said in an exhausted tone.

"If you were fine, why did you use the Dark Dust rounds Qrow gave you _for emergencies_?" Yang asked, knowing very well Ruby wouldn't use them unless she had to.

"Well, it was getting a bit crowded…" she replied sarcastically. "There must have been a thousand of them!" she added, strengthening her argument.

"Actually," Blake interjected, chuckling a bit, "according to Professor Ozpin, there were six-hundred or so at most. We were impressed though, and a little bit scared."

"_Scared?!_" Weiss pushed past Yang and Blake harshly. She had been standing behind them, preoccupied with keeping herself under control. "Terrified is more like it!" She got up close to Ruby. "You used the rarest dust my family produces to nearly blow yourself up!" Weiss was more upset than mad, but nobody could tell at this point. She got right up in Ruby's face, jabbing a finger into her chest. "Do you have any idea on how much stress you've caused me in this past hour, let alone the past month?" she asked in an angry whisper.

Ruby slowly shook her head "no," eyes wide with fear.

"Well, she's obviously thought this through well enough…" Yang whispered to Blake at a safe distance, to which Blake nodded.

"Let's start with you putting yourself in harm's way, then me doing whatever I can to get you back, only to be on the brink of an emotional collapse when you go running off and become suicidal."

"B-but I wasn't suicidal… I was just venting," Ruby whispered back.

"I. Don't. Care!" Weiss yelled, punctuating every word and throwing her arms up. She went back to a whisper, saying "You just really don't understand." Weiss turned and walked off, leaving Ruby standing alone with Blake and Yang in the distance. They both walked over to Ruby, who was now on the verge of tears.

"I-I never got to tell her I remembered." Ruby muttered, staring at Weiss' back as she walked off towards a door.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked, wrapping an arm around her sister.

"All of the times she was there at my bedside. I could hear her promising to take care of me, and then Blake came in." Ruby took in a deep sigh. "When I got outside, all of the feelings came back at once. I didn't know what to do. What I heard scared me, because I didn't know if I was imagining what I had heard, or if it was real."

"Well, your chance to tell her isn't gone, but it is slipping away," Blake said, smiling.

"Ruby, what do you want from her?" Yang asked.

Ruby stared at her feet, thinking over the question.

"I want to be there for her. Like how she was there for me." Ruby said, coming to a conclusion regarding her own feelings. She looked up at Yang.

"What? Are you waiting for my permission or something?" Yang asked, confused. Ruby nodded. "Well, I've been supporting this from the start, so go; make Snow Angel yours." Yang smiled warmly at her younger sister.

"But, what if she's just being friendly? Well… her version of friendly… Maybe I should just leave her alone…"

"Ruby," Blake began. "If that was true, would she have done so much? Why else would she stay night after night beside your bed, hoping that you would wake up?"

Ruby started bouncing with happiness before she took off in Weiss' direction. It only took a minute with her semblance to catch the heiress, walking up the stairs to go back to the dorm room.

"Weiss!" Ruby called. The heiress paused on the steps and looked back. Ruby took the opportunity to run up the stairs ahead of Weiss, blocking her way.

"What do you want? Come to tell me all about how you remembered I'm not worthy of your time?" Weiss asked snidely.

"No…" Ruby sighed. "I wanted to apologize about that actually. You see, when you started telling me about what I had forgot, all of those memories came back, and so did the feelings. I acted on what I felt," Ruby said, almost pleading. "But I also wanted to tell you, I remembered other things."

"Like what?" The hopefulness in Weiss' tone was not obscured.

"I remembered all the times you were in the infirmary. And the time you were crying next to my bed, with the promise…" Ruby smiled at Weiss' surprisingly shy expression. "You know I also heard what you told Blake you would do."

"Why bother?" Weiss asked, refusing to look at Ruby. "It seems like you already know."

"Well, maybe I want to hear it from you."

Weiss swallowed hard. She took a deep breath and stood straight up. Ruby was only a step above her, bringing them to even height.

"I-I…" Weiss stammered. Ruby's confidence was at an all-time high, and it was clouding her judgment.

"Well, I guess that'll do." Ruby wrapped her arms around the stuttering girl's neck gently.

"R-ruby? W-what are you doing?"

"Calm down already." Ruby whispered as she leaned in and softly kissed Weiss**. **

Weiss instantly froze up, becoming rigid with the contact of their lips. She had never been in such a position before. Seconds seemed to last for an hour, and the moment passed as they broke apart, looking deep into each other's eyes.

"_Why did that make me feel so…Warm?" _She thought, as she looked on at Ruby.

"Aww! That's just so _cute!_" Yang squeaked from just inside the doorway. Ruby and Weiss broke apart, looking back at Yang and Blake who were leaning against a wall. Blake smiled and started clapping. Yang joined in. Suddenly, the whole landing above Ruby and Weiss was filled with the sound of people's applause. Ruby looked up the stairs, only to see Team JNPR standing there, grinning at them.

"Yang! What the hell is going on?!" Weiss asked, shocked.

"Everyone's been waiting for this for a long time now." Yang laughed. "There was no way I was going to let them miss it. But don't mind us, please, go back to what you were doing."

"So, what now?" Ruby asked in a whisper to Weiss.

"We ignore them." Weiss smiled as she pulled Ruby in for another kiss.

Everybody inside was too distracted by the scene inside to notice the pair standing just far back enough to remain out of view.

"What is my assignment, sir?"

"Shadow, you do know the mission was a failure, correct?" Ozpin said.

"Yes, sir, I do."

"Team RWBY knows of your existence. Therefore, I will allow them to work with you to make sure that this time, such failure does not occur. Understood?

"Yes, sir," he replied. "What happens now?"

"We give them the time together they've been working so hard for. They may not survive if they aren't strong enough to withstand it as a team," Ozpin said coldly. "I'll have their courses changed to prepare them for what is to come."

"Shall I monitor their progress?"

"Yes, but don't let them know you're watching." Ozpin shot a sideways glance at his student.

"They won't know a thing," he said as he activated his semblance, dissipating into thin air.

Ozpin took one last glance at Team RWBY.

"_Even if they're together, they may not be strong enough."_ He thought as he turned, walking away. "_We may just lose our last chance._"

* * *

**A/N:** So this is the final chapter, but B&B will be back in a few months for a sequel. Stay tuned for some **end notes** from both Proto and I.


	9. Burden and Blame: End Notes

**Burden and Blame: End Notes**

* * *

Well, this is the end of our first story, and I must say, this much success was not expected. Through our work, we've gotten experience, but we've also explored what we can do a writers.

There have also been people supporting us along the way:

Shinobi201: Beta work for chapter 6, artwork for B&B, general critique.

Army of Grimm: Our first error correction. Good catch.

ChaosPhoenix11: Moderator for the r/RWBYOC subreddit and allowed for me to post the story.

JavelinR: Overall help and support. Personal thanks from me, bro.

Angelsixtwofive: If you're still around, you were our first comment ever. It was a good moment for us.

All of the guests: I read all of your reviews and took them into account. Don't think they were disregarded.

Everyone else who reviewed: You guys were the best. Hearing that our story was actually good to read? Best feeling EVER.

Now that we're done with this story, here's what will happen:

1) We'll take a bit of a break to get some breathing (and thinking) room.

2) Planning for our next story will occur.

3) Creation of B&B's sequel in a few months.

4) Revision of the stories we have made, but never felt were up to par

I'll remove the (A/N)'s as they're pretty pointless now that the story is done.

* * *

Hello. This is Prototypical. I would like to give thanks to all who took the time of day (or night) to read our story. As most of you know, I have been the editor working behind the scenes, attempting to ensure a more seamless reading experience.

Shattered and I will be working together in the future to bring you more stories; each, ideally, more captivating and provocative than the previous. Some will be co-written, while others might be his writing and my editing or my writing with his editing.

Thank you.


End file.
